HON. PRIME MINISTER VOREQE BAINIMARAMA'S ADDRESS AT THE HIGH LEVEL SEGMENT OF THE 40TH SESSION OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

The President of the Human Rights Council; 
The President of the General Assembly;
Secretary-General;
The High Commissioner for Human Rights;
Heads of State; 
Heads of Government; 
Excellencies;
Distinguished delegates; 
Ladies and gentlemen; 

Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.

It is a privilege to once again address this High-Level Segment at the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council. That privilege is made greater following Fiji’s election to the Council, the first time such an honour has been bestowed upon a Pacific island nation. 

Mr President, I address you this morning on behalf of the Fijian people, people who have long been spectators to the workings of global leadership in protecting and promoting human rights. But no longer. This morning, I carry with me the pride of Fijians everywhere; pride in this global recognition of our progress in realising their human rights and dignity, rights long denied to many of our people in darker, painful chapters in our history. 

The Fijian story is one which I have gone over in explicit detail before at this High-Level Segment. Many of the challenges our nation and people have overcome were unique to our country. 
But Fiji is not the only nation which has had to first reckon with a colonial history before working to create a society that better respects the human rights of all people. We are no stranger to the systemic inequities that can snuff out efforts to engrain a culture of human rights protections before they can ever take form. 

In our case, we had inherited laws and systems that were inherently at odds with the human dignity of thousands of our rightful citizens, including an electoral system that determined the weight of votes based on ethnicity. Our economy was rigged in favour of a societal elite, while the socioeconomic rights of our people remained an afterthought. And the basic building blocks necessary to foster a culture that promoted human rights were weak and crumbling under the strain of socio-political and economic upheaval, which, amongst other things, manifested in communal divisions. 

There was no building a new and better Fiji on such a tenuous foundation. We needed a dramatic re-thinking of who we were as a country, and a bold new vision for what Fiji could become. That dream, that ambition and that commitment gave birth to the 2013 Fijian Constitution, which established a common national identity among our people and enshrined a vast array of rights guaranteed to all Fijians, for all time. 

Guided and united by the promise of our Constitution, today, our nation and our citizens, stand among the most profound examples in the world of the power of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to inspire and motivate people across borders, across oceans and across societies. We’ve been placed on fast-track trajectory in ratifying the “Big Nine” Human Rights conventions, already ratifying seven of the conventions, with plans to complete the ratification of the remaining two this year. 

Our embrace of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is transforming lives in our country, through an agenda of impactful and innovative policies. And our international advocacy in defence of the rights of all vulnerable people continues to be amplified from the highest echelons of global leadership. 

Under our Constitution, we have just recently held our second-ever genuine parliamentary election. As per the will of our people, I am now the twice-democratically elected Fijian Prime Minister, in elections deemed credible and free by the international community. 

I don’t laud that as a personal victory. But as victory for the health of our fast maturing democracy. And, let’s not forget, while Fijian democracy is younger than most, democracy – when compared to other political orders across history– is still relatively young. Every successful election conducted marks another win for this global democratic experience. 
In a global landscape increasingly beset by division, undue politicisation of independent institutions and centralising authority, those wins matter more than ever. 

For Fiji, the success of our second genuine election has intensified the belief of our people that they have an equal say in the running of their government; it has established a high bar of fairness and transparency for future generations to surpass; and it has cemented the achievement of our Fijian Constitution. 

Strong democracies are built by strong protections of human rights. Democracies endure on the back of strong and independent institutions. And with those building blocks are in place, nations grow, they prosper and its people succeed. That model has powered unprecedented prosperity across history and around the world, and Fiji is no different. 

But economic growth, new jobs, new development and investment are not the sole metrics of human progress. Financial means are no guarantee of equality. Investment alone cannot fund the evolution of a more caring society. Roads, bridges, ports and essential services certainly better people’s lives, but they are not sufficient to better our moral character. 

The civil and political rights enshrined by our Constitution are all critical. But their value would be diminished, particularly as the Fijian continue to modernise and expand, unless they are matched by a vast array of socioeconomic rights as well. Because what is the point of prosperity if it only serves to widen the gap between rich and poor? What is the point of development, if it denies our future generations the beauty and bounty of our natural environment? What is the point of progress, if it comes at the expense of free expression?

Our Constitution recognises the symbiotic relationship between civil, political and socioeconomic rights, enshrining historic socioeconomic guarantees for our people. We’re giving life to that recognition through a nationwide effort and appeal to the realisation of socioeconomic rights, in a very practical manner. Our targeted investment in the growth of social wages has lifted generational burdens from the backs of our people, freeing them to pursue enterprise, build community and invest in their own futures. Through our national budgets, we have set aside record funding towards shielding and uplifting the vulnerable in our society, including women, children and Fijians living with disabilities. 

We bringing justice to our people, quite literally, through our vastly expanding legal aid services. Our network of legal aid offices supplies free legal services to low-income individuals and families. 

Only a few years ago the Fijian government only allocated a few hundred thousand dollars a year to increase access to legal aid, now it is funded to the tune of ten million dollars annually.

We’ve poured additional funding into education, now the most well-funded sector in government, as well as healthcare, equal justice, adequate food, clean water, decent housing and other fundamental rights for human progress and dignity. 

New measures of accountability have been successfully introduced throughout all institutions of our Government, a new commitment to merit-based practices is revolutionizing the calibre of our civil service, and the human rights of all Fijians are supported by a foundation of strong, independent institutions designed to protect, promote and uphold the basic rights of all people.

This month, I addressed a high-level Seminar on the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention Against Torture in the Pacific where I gave a comprehensive update on our work since ratifying the Convention Against Torture in 2016. 

That work includes our First Hour Procedure partnership with the United Kingdom to ensure the provision of legal counsel to every suspect at the police station, within one hour of arrest, with a protocol guiding the conduct of both police and lawyers in relation to the implementation of this right. 

We’re also reforming our prisons procedures and conducting a larger campaign of societal change to condemn violence in all forms. And Fiji is proud to accept the invitation to join the Convention Against Torture Core Group of Denmark, Ghana, Chile, Morocco, and Indonesia, to do our part in seeking the universal ratification of UNCAT.

But our progress will only remain limited to the few if it ignores systemic limitations that have been placed on equal members of our society, particularly on women. In December last year, Fiji lost a historic champion for women’s empowerment with the passing of Dr Jiko Luveni – the first woman speaker of our parliament. Her legacy lives on in our work to ensure that women in our society are made safe from violence, that they have steadfast protections of their sexual and reproductive rights, and that women and young girls are empowered with opportunity to become the Fijians they want to be. I believe our commitment to gender inclusion has forged a new and powerful economic engine that has helped drive our economy to its record streak of unbroken growth. 

That’s important as well, because without prosperity, any serious effort to promote human rights will end before it can even begin. Because the protection of human rights and the implementation of our sustainable development goals are more than a question of commitment. 
Often, it is question of resources. The priorities for nations where people are dying from malnutrition vary dramatically from that of an industrial power. Often still, nations face existential threats that make proper planning for the future next to impossible. 

There is no existential threat more grave or severe than that of climate change. I lead a nation on the frontlines of the rising seas, severe weather and changing weather patterns brought about global warming. Whether it is worsening cyclones devastating Fijians and other oceanic peoples, the disappearing coastlines of Bangladesh, the scorching heat drying out land across sub-Saharan Africa, or the worsening flooding in low-lying cities in the United States, the impacts of climate change have proven themselves as the single greatest threat to the basic rights of all people. 

Fiji is the first Pacific island nation to hold on a seat on this Council. We also had the privilege of leading the world in the United Nation climate negotiations, as President of COP23. And we plan to imbue our membership to this Council with the passion and legacy of our climate action leadership. It is for this reason that we have pledged to champion global recognition of the universal right to a safe and healthy environment. 

I acknowledge and appreciate the rights-based approach endorsed by this body, which considers the impact on migration, internal displacement, women and other vulnerable groups. Many of the most vulnerable countries are not the major contributors to the harmful emissions warming our planet, yet they find themselves facing the greatest existential threat. Even in a best-case scenario for climate action, those impacts are going to grow much more serious before they ever start getting better. 
In a worst-case scenario, they will grow to a scale that is beyond any nation’s ability to address. We cannot allow that future to come to pass, or the right to life, for countless vulnerable people, will be irreparably stripped away. 

I urge the nations represented on this Council, as well as all nation on earth, to not only honour their commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change, but to raise the ambition of those commitments, in pursuit of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. And I urge greater access to financial resources to fund vital work to adapt vulnerable economies to the cyclones, the rising sea levels and the other climatic impacts that already pose grave risks to progress, development and human rights the world over. 

We look forward to continuing our work with civil society and our NGO partners, both at home and abroad. 
Our shared commitment to the international human rights conventions must be reinforced by our work, in an objective manner, to engrain a new culture that understands and expects that the human rights of all people must be protected. We need to think outside of political arrangements, and consider how we can more effectively engrain deep, cultural change in the application of human rights. 

Mr President, for Fiji, the way to this point has been quite a journey. Though, I hesitate to even use the word “journey”. A journey implies an end, in the form of a destination. But as we all know, the path that must be walked to build a more perfect society, one where all people enjoy equal and unfettered access to their inalienable rights, is never-ending. There is always further to travel, there is always more than can and must be done. Fiji is ready for the work ahead. 

Thank you for the opportunity to address this Council and I wish you all the very best in your deliberations.

Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.